PHP Static Variables

Question

$count = 5;
function get_count()
{
    static $count = 0;
    return $count++;
}
echo $count;
++$count;
echo get_count();
echo get_count();

I guessed it outputs 5 0 1 and it's right,but I need a better explanation?

question from:https://stackoverflow.com/questions/1642333/php-static-variables

Answer 1

The variable $count in the function is not related in any kind to the global $count variable. The static keyword is the same as in C or Java, it means: Initialize this variable only once and keep its state when the function ends. This means, when execution re-enters the function, it sees that the inner $count has already been initialized and stored the last time as 1, and uses that value.